What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

James and John asked Jesus to do for them whatever they might ask. “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your glory.” What is it they thought they were requesting? And what made them so bold as to ask for this high honor, above the other disciples? After all, even most favored, most impetuous Peter was not so forward.

To begin with, James and John believed that Jesus would actually give them whatever they asked. And why should they not? After all, in Matthew 18, He promised that whatever they asked in His name, they would receive. The Lord commands over and over to ask for what you desire, and He will answer the prayers of His faithful children. So, why should James and John not go for it and ask for these positions of honor?

Furthermore, these disciples knew that Jesus is the only way to heaven, the only access point to the Father. Whatever Jesus asks, the Father will give. Therefore, whatever the faithful ask of Jesus, Jesus can accomplish. Through Jesus you and I and James and John and all the faithful have access to heaven, to stand before the throne of God. Upon this fact James and John trusted, and therefore they were emboldened to ask for places at Jesus' right and left in His glory.

But Jesus does not simply hand over such a promise as they asked. “No one takes this honor for himself,” but it must be given him by the Father in heaven. With their request, James and John sought after what was not theirs. They coveted something that God had not promised to them. They wanted the places of honor at the feast.

These two disciples were not so different from you. Your sinful heart swells up with pride and self-confidence, leading you to seek after honor and glory which is not for you. The temptation to reach for power over others is great. You would like to be in control of your own destiny. You would like to make your mark on this world, to leave it a little bit better, according to your own standards. You would like to make others around you conform to your standard of living, of behavior, of morality. Your sinful heart will never be content, unless you are in control of your own universe and fate.

You, like James and John, seek after fame and recognition before men. In a misguided quest, these two wanted to be seated in the places of glory, that they might be seen by men. Likewise, you spend much time and effort to be seen by your friends and neighbors in a positive light. There are countless businesses and services dedicated to fostering good reputation and image for whomever will pay them enough. You do good deeds in your community, that it may be known that you are good people, that you care for your neighbors. You want to be thought of as positive members of society, as fine upstanding citizens. You want to be looked at with honor and respect.

Even the members of Christ's Church are not immune from these temptations. How tempting it is for people in a small out-of-the-way parish to consider themselves somehow lesser than big, flashy, bustling urban congregations. Numbers mean growth, and growth means perpetuation, and that means staying power. If your pastor is well-regarded, if your church is thought of highly in the community, if people see you doing Christian things, then the parish is doing well.

All this puffery and pride falls into the root of the question: Lord, give us your glory and honor, give us the good life, make us better than those people.

But Jesus says, “You do not know what you are asking.” The positions of glory in the Kingdom of God are the servants. “Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” The one who would lead must lead by serving. The highly exalted are those who have given much in service to others. The most honored are those who have nothing, who are accounted as accursed in the sight of the world. The Lord is no respecter of persons or positions, but gives to each his due, according to his faith.

Indeed, the Lord works a reversal of the order of the world. “He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts; he has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly” (LSB 232). Those who are the least desirable, the least honorable – those He calls the greatest in the Kingdom. Those considered of no consequence, those pushed off to the side and ignored – those are the highly exalted ones. If you desire to be first, you must be willing to give up everything to get there. You must be willing to serve your neighbor faithfully. You must be willing to suffer all, even death.

To receive glory in the Kingdom of God requires great sacrifice, as Jesus tells James and John. “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” The things foretold about the Messiah will come upon His followers as well. The judgment of this world falls heavy upon those who oppose the prince of darkness. The Baptism of fire is no light thing, and is a part of the Way of Life. Glory comes by fire. Simply consider what is written about Jesus' suffering:

In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death... Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:7-8).

Jesus suffered greatly, even though He is the Son of God, the Lord of Hosts. He did not count it as robbery to be made into the lowest of servants to His creation, that He might save it.

James and John did indeed drink the cup which our Lord drank, and they were baptized with His baptism, although not to the full extent. St. James went on to become the first of the apostles to be martyred. He was arrested by order of Herod Agrippa I during Agrippa's terrorizing of the Christians in Jerusalem, and was sentenced to be beheaded. According to tradition, so evident and so confident was the faith of St. James that the one appointed to lead him to his death repented of his part in the affair, confessed his faith in Jesus, and was martyred right alongside St. James.

St. John, tradition holds, was the only apostle not to be martyred, but he suffered greatly in his very long lifetime. He was banished into solitary exile on the island of Patmos by the emperor Domitian, where he was granted the visions recorded in the book of Revelation. Even when St. John returned to Ephesus after Domitian's death, he was surrounded by ever-increasing conflict and strife, and he outlived all his apostolic peers.

Theirs are but two accounts of the myriad martyrs who have given all in sacrifice for the confession of the Gospel. Christians are indeed compelled to drink the cup and undergo the baptism in which we are joined to Jesus.

For what reason did Jesus come? Was it to dole out positions of honor and power among the disciples? No, of course not. “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Quite simply, Jesus came to die. He did not come to be glorified in the eyes of the world, to take up the earthly throne of His father David. He did not come to be served, or to answer to the whims and wishes of the people. He came to do what no one else could do.

Jesus came to take up the cup of wrath and death filled with the sins of all mankind. He came to drink the poisoned cup, that He might swallow death down to the dregs. He consumed into Himself all that was due on account of your sins and transgressions. Not one sin was left in the cup, not one bit of humanity not atoned for. In so doing, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice once for all. Not by force, but willingly, He gave Himself as a ransom for many, that all might be saved by His death and resurrection. He took your death into Himself and died for you, that you might live through Him. “And, being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9).

Now, therefore, the cup of wrath which Jesus consumed has become for you the cup of blessing which we bless. In drinking of this cup, you receive the life-giving Blood of Christ, who has taken the curse that was upon you and has nailed it to the cross. Your sins are washed away by the flood flowing from the pierced side of Christ, your robes are made white in the blood of the Lamb. Curse is turned into blessing. The Lord promises, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

In Christ, your sins are forgiven. You are free from the bondage to sin, death, and the devil. The condemnation is no longer laid on you. Now, you are bound up in Christ, and have become the perfect slave of all. You are bound by the law of love to serve your neighbor in perfect obedience to the Law of God. But, though slaves, you receive the reward of sons of the king. You receive the blessing, honor, and glory that rightly belong to Jesus, the Son of God.

God's wrath has been satisfied, and the cup of wrath has been taken. Jesus has drunk it down to the dregs, so there is no more wrath and condemnation. Instead you take the cup of blessing. You receive the cup of the Lord's blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. In your drinking this cup, you receive life and salvation through His blood poured out for you. In keeping this blessed feast, in drinking the cup He gives to you, you “proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”

Now, set free from sin and bound to Christ and His people, you are bound to find opportunities to serve and to show forth God's grace and mercy to His people. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” In Christ, your own selfish pride and ambition are stripped away, so that you serve your neighbor for the love of him, out of faith and gratitude toward God. Your neighbor is not a tool which you may use to get to heaven, but you are a tool by which God brings heaven to earth, His kingdom among us. You become the servant of all, to show the love of God in Jesus Christ for all people.

And we believe Thy Word,

Though dim our faith may be:

Whate'er for Thine we do, O Lord,

We do it unto Thee. (LSB 781.6).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.